Matt Damon's Southern Accent
Not too bad for a Mass-hole.
shareI had read somewhere that he actually hired a Memphis local to coach him on the accent, which was surprisingly good. Usually Hollywood hires Foghorn Leghorn as a dialect coach for any movie involving Southerners (e.g., Kidman in "Cold Mountain", which is only the first of a gazillion examples I could cite). Virtually NOBODY in the South talks like Scarlett O'Hara. Nor do we sound like "Deliverance" extras. I appreciate Damon trying to get it right, because hardly anyone else even bothers.
shareMy personal favorite is Keaneau Reeves in "The Devil's Advocate." Awful.
shareEXACTLY. And yet, oddly enough, the South African Theron does a PERFECT Southern accent.
shareI remember hearing that Damon actually tended bar here in Knoxville as part of his research for the accent. He wasn't hugely famous yet at the time, so it seems possible. Of course, everybody in Knoxville "remembers" seeing him or hanging out with him, and everybody in town swears it was their bar in which he worked. Whatever preparation he did, he nailed the accent. I was very impressed.
"Royal Tenenbaum bought the house on Archer Avenue in the winter of his 35th year..."
Heh. That reminds me of something I read once about James Dean. Supposedly, if everyone who claimed to have had torrid, long-term affairs with Dean really had done so, he'd have had to live to age 75 or so, just to give everyone enough time. Funny that Knoxville residents are the same way about Damon. "Yeah, me an' mah buddy'us always tight with ol' Matt."
(I say that as someone from Huntsville, who grew up in Birmingham.)